Round 19, 2019.
It may not mean much to most NRL fans, but to Penrith Panthers fans, it was the last time they lost a game at home.
Since then, the two-time grand finalists (who didn’t even make the finals in the aforementioned year) have turned BlueBet Stadium, their own little slice of paradise at the foot of the mountains, into a living hell for every team who have visited.
The numbers are really quite astronomical, with the victory over Canberra - funnily enough, the team who beat them in that Round 19 game - being the 21st straight win at home for the club.
In that time, the only teams they haven’t played at home are the St George Illawarra Dragons, Gold Coast Titans and New Zealand Warriors, and while they will play the (by the time Round 24 rolls around) Auckland-based Warriors this year, they will need to keep their streak going if they have hopes of beating the entire competition while this run is going.
They have managed over the Canberra Raiders, Cronulla Sharks and Sydney Roosters in the same timeframe, two over the Parramatta Eels, Newcastle Knights and North Queensland Cowboys, and one over every other side.
It’s a run like few this game has seen before, so we thought we’d take it all the way back to that Round 19, 2019 encounter to see who played for Penrith the last time they slipped up on home soil.
1. Dylan Edwards
Still at Panthers
Dylan Edwards has gone on to become one of the competition’s most consistent fullbacks over the past three years.
Playing in both of Penrith’s grand final teams, he has amassed 87 NRL appearances and regularly averages north of 200 metres per game.
2. Josh Mansour
South Sydney Rabbitohs
Mansour, who played 19 games in 2019, and 22 in 2020 with the Panthers, left the club for the South Sydney Rabbitohs at the start of 2021 in a highly-touted move.
It has fallen rather flat on its face however, with the former representative winger managing just 15 appearances since moving to Redfern at the start of 2021.
3. Dean Whare
Super League - Catalan Dragons
The now-32-year-old, 19-Test New Zealand representative left Penrith at the end of 2020 with 130 club games under his belt after originally debuting with the Manly Sea Eagles in 2010.
The Rotorua-born outside back instead made the move to Catalan, where he has been part of the successful side who made the grand final last year, playing more than 20 games already for the French club alongside a host of other ex-NRL talent.
4. Brent Naden
Canterbury Bulldogs
Naden failed to pass into anything more than a fringe first-grade option at Penrith, managing 18 games in 2020, before slumping back to just seven games during the 2021 premiership-winning season, losing his chance at a spot in the backline to the likes of Brian To’o, Paul Momirovski, Stephen Crichton and Matt Burton.
He moved to the Bulldogs at the start of the 2022 season and played six straight games in the outside backs to start the year.
5. Brian To'o
Still at Panthers
To’o will be itching to get back onto the field for the Panthers in the coming weeks ahead of the State of Origin series following an early-season injury.
The gun winger, who was part of Penrith’s 2021 premiership, has quickly become one of the best in the competition.
6. James Maloney
Retired - French Tier 1 rugby league
Maloney left the Panthers at the end of the 2019 season to take up a deal with the Catalan Dragons. In doing so, he missed all of Penrith’s success, with Maloney instead playing at the height of the Super League during his two years there.
He is now in the French competition with FC Lezignan, however, is currently stood down for an alleged doping breach.
7. Nathan Cleary
Still at Panthers
Cleary has become the game’s best halfback, and one of the game’s best players. He finished second in the Dally M race last year, led his side to the grand final victory and his state to the Origin victory.
Cleary, along with coach and father Ivan, won’t be going anywhere anytime soon after recently committing to a long-term extension.
Tamou would play in the first grand final season at the Panthers during 2020, before switching to the Wests Tigers.
He hasn't been able to find the same form he held at Penrith during his stint at the joint venture, although has looked back somewhere near his best in the last fortnight.
9. Mitch Kenny
Still at Panthers
Kenny was still very early in his career during 2019, with a debut only coming a month and a half before this clash with the Raiders.
The hooker has been pushed to a back up role ever since, with Apoisai Koroisau arriving at the club in 2020. Koroisau’s departure could open him up to more game time in 2023 for Ivan Cleary’s side though.
10. James Fisher-Harris
Still at Panthers
Fisher-Harris, who is likely the first picked prop for New Zealand’s national team, has become in the conversation among the game’s best front-rowers, on par with Payne Haas.
He was picked alongside Haas in the 2021 Dally M team of the year and is undoubtedly a key behind Penrith’s success.
11. Frank Winterstein
Country rugby league - Macksville Sea Eagles
In what was his only season for the Panthers, Winterstein would leave for France at the end of the season, taking up a deal with Toulouse Olympique in English second-tier rugby league for 2020.
He had previously bounced from club to club, playing for the Canterbury Bulldogs and Manly Sea Eagles in the NRL, as well as Wakefield, the Crusaders and Widnes in England, mixed with a short stint in rugby union where he played for the Australian 7s team.
His time at Toulouse was short-lived, managing just four games before leaving the club by mutual consent. The former Samoan representative has failed to play professional rugby league since but is turning out for the Macksville Sea Eagles this season.
12. Isaah Yeo
Still at Panthers
Yeo, who is now a New South Wales Origin lock, was a late shift to the edge in this Round 19, 2019 clash with the Raiders.
It’s safe to say a move like that won’t be coming again anytime soon, with Yeo taking out the Dally M lock of the year award during last year’s premiership campaign.
13. Liam Martin
Still at Panthers
Martin has become one of the hardest-hitting forwards in the game during his time with the Panthers.
A local junior, he made his Origin debut last year and is showing no signs of slowing down, rather, transitioning into a starting weapon to replace Kurt Capewell this year.
14. Wayde Egan
New Zealand Warriors
Egan was floating in and out of the first-grade team at the Panthers during this time period, eventually packing up and leaving for the New Zealand Warriors ahead of the 2020 season.
He has since managed 45 games for the Warriors, taking his career tally to 74, with Egan the club’s regular first-choice starting dummy half.
15. Jarome Luai
Still at Panthers
Luai might have played from the bench throughout the 2019 campaign, but he has taken over from James Maloney with aplomb, playing in two grand finals during his first two years in the role.
A try-assist wizard, he made his Origin debut last year and will likely be picked again for the 2022 series.
16. Moses Leota
Still at Panthers
Leota is another player who has transitioned into a regular starter, taking over more or less ever since James Tamou left the club for the Tigers.
The barnstorming prop has been missing for the last handful of weeks for Penrith with an injury but is one of the more underrated players in the game.
17. Reagan Campbell-Gillard
Parramatta Eels
A gigantic prop, Campbell-Gillard is another player who packed up stumps and left for the Parramatta Eels at the end of the 2019 season.
He had a quiet start to his tenure at Parramatta, but is well and truly hitting his stride now, returning to prominence as one of the game’s best props - a title he achieved when he played for Australia in 2017 and New South Wales in 2018.